Renewable Energy Transition Market Rules Strategy
It's time to overcome the crisis of the imagination that constrains our ability to do what must be done to avert climate catastrophe, or even have serious discussions in the midst of ever deepening ecological crisis.
By taking some or all of the clear steps considered here that are clearly within our ability to build, regulate and legislate, we will potentiate and quickly accelerate an ecological turn. They represent our ability to develop an effective mixture of carrots and sticks to rapidly accelerate renewable development.
1. Cap and Replace. Imposing a mandatory and progressive annual reduction in fossil fuel production, starting at 5% annually, increasing to 10% annually, and reaching 100% in 20 years unless carbon is removed before or during combustion, or carbon dioxide captured after combustion.
It’s important to understand that a chemical engineering method can strip carbon from fossil fuels. For example, using metal oxide particles without atmospheric oxygen in high pressure reactors.iSuch technologies are costly compared to just burning coal. Carbon capture and storage is similarly costly. If fossil fuel producers and users have no choice as a result of mandatory annual carbon dioxide reductions to effective develop carbon removal or carbon capture, carbon removal or carbon capture might represent a real bridge to 100% renewables
If successful, this would prevent trillions of dollars of fossil fuels in the ground from becoming stranded assets. If unsuccessful, that is, too costly to compete with renewables, fossil fuel producers leave fossil fuels in the ground and pursue renewable development using their substantial capital and expertise.
2. SustainabilityCredits (SCs) to Monetize Carbon Displacement & Produce $Trillions to Invest in Renewable Transformation.
A sustainability Credit (SC) is a proposed new regulatory asset created by displacing one metric ton of carbon dioxide through renewables, valued at $100 based on the ecological value of carbon displacement determined by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). SCs would be turned into investment dollars through a new Bank of the Commons(BOC) to be reinvested in further renewable development. The BOC-SC mechanism, as part of the Federal Reserve System, has the ability to produce many trillions of dollars in ecological value for investments globally. The BOC-SC system is currently under study in Washington.
Sustainability Credits would be on balance sheets as paid in capital and as cash to be used to invest in more renewables thus creating with year after year of carbon displacement more SCs. The BOC -SC system will be both an effective global finance tool and enormous economic incentive to abandon the fossil fuel path through creation of balance sheet assets for carbon displacement and sustainability.
SCs represent the creation of a new gold, of ecological sustainabilitynthat supports the currency in an even more fundamental fashion as gold was the basis for the creation of fiat currency.
3. TaxIncome on Green House Gas Emitters. Taxing fossil fuel companies at yearly, progressively increasing rates ending at 90% on all profits from sales burning fossil fuels without carbon capture or removal. This is cap on profits that cannot simply be passed along as increase in prices like a carbon tax.
4. PurchaseCoal Companies. Purchasingcontrolling interests in coal companies and leave the coal in the ground. Since many coal companies have been in and out of bankruptcy, the market value of the companies may quite affordable.
5. Non-By-passableCharge on Pollution. Booking a non-by-passable charge for pollution and the destruction of ecosystem services on the balance sheets of fossil fuel producers would effectively reduce or eliminate their profitability on paperand affect their loan covenants, ability to pay dividends, and their financing abilities. A similar positive credit would be added to the books of companies whose activities lead to ecological improvement and the value of such ecosystems services.
6. PayStranded Cost Charge. Paying a stranded cost charge to fossil fuel producers who must leave fossil fuels in the ground if they cannot be burned without carbon dioxide release amounts to a ransom that we should pay if we must. Stranded cost payments should always be weighed against purchase of the company. If made, stranded cost payments should be in exchange for preferred stock whose payments that can be used to finance purchase or support renewable development.
7. Retraining and Reinvestment. Leaving no worker or community behind through retraining and renewable reinvestment is a must. The commitment is to retrain worker and help redevelop fossil fuel communities for the renewable future. It's important to view these activities not as expenses, but as productive investments that pay off not just in cash flows, but in stronger communities, ecological improvement and regeneration of the ecosphere and reduction in pollution, depletion and ecological damage.
8. EcologicalFiduciary Responsibility. Redefining an ecological definition of fiduciary responsibility for public,private, institutional businesses and organizations by law is essential. The aims guiding the new conduct of a fiduciary is for economic growth to result in ecological improvement and in context of the pursuit of social and ecological justice.
9. EcologicalAssessments on Energy .Placing ecological assessments on energy use by the rich, higher for non-renewables, to support investment by the poor in global renewable transformation;
10. Ecological Assessments on all Goods andServices.Placing ecological assessments, such as an ecological value added tax, on all goods and services allows price system to send clear signals for sustainability and offset some income based taxation starting with pay roll taxes on low income workers.
11. NegativeIncome Tax and Citizen Dividend. Using a Negative Income Tax and/or a Citizen Dividend to offset ecological assessments to recycle ecological taxes as part of plans to provide a living wage for all.
12. Full and Shared Employment. Approachingjob sharing, cooperative ownership, reduced hours at a living wage is a fundamental part of social and ecological justice.
The next steps are up to us to craft an effective menu of measures mixing carrots and sticks.. It's time to act.
Roy Morrison builds solar farms www.RenewableSunPartners.com. His next book, forthcoming, is
EEG (Ecological Economic Growth).
Fact check
CarbonStripping Technology
https://news.osu.edu/a-fossil-fuel-technology-that-doesnt-pollute
$100Metric ton value carbon displacement
[PDF]
https://www.c2es.org› site › assets › uploads › 2019/09 › carbon-utilizatio...
National Academy of Sciences for sharing their knowledge with the work group. ... (CO), that would displace the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. ... the greatest prospects for growth in both market value and greenhouse gas .....$100/ton18.Thus ... 100,000 to 2.1 billion metrictons peryear (Table 2 and.
Bankof the Commons – Sustainability Credits
http://www.greenenergytimes.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/GET_July-2019.pdf
Page 18.
ihttps://news.osu.edu/a-fossil-fuel-technology-that-doesnt-pollute/